This invention relates to an improvement of a vanity case having a receptacle member and a cover member hinged with each other and arranged to be latched by snap engagement of an elastic latch tongue formed on one of the members with a protrusion formed on the other member.
In a known vanity case, such as a compact case, of the type set forth above, the elastic latch tongue as well as the protrusion are integrally formed with the cover and receptacle members by plastic molding. Such elastic latch tongue and protrusion have to be formed to very precise dimensions because, if the engagement between the latch tongue and the protrusion is weak, the cover member of the vanity case will open accidentally. On the other hand, if the engagement therebetween is strong, a relatively strong force has to be exerted to open the cover member, thereby causing trouble to a user. Accordingly, when molding the cover and receptacle members, the utmost attention is paid to the accuracy of the dimensions of the latch tongue and protrusion. However, inferior vanity cases having defective dimensions of the latch tongue and protrusion have been formed inevitably at a relatively high percentage.
As an improvement of the defects set forth above, the present inventor has proposed in U.S. patent application Serial No. 890,957 to provide a slider element which releases the snap engagement between the latch tongue and the protrusion when pushed in the horizontal direction. This structure has remarkable advantages that the above-mentioned engagement can be released very easily by a small pushing force, so that the latch tongue as well as the protrusion can be formed to engage strongly with each other without the necessity of dimensional accuracy as required in the conventional vanity case. However, in the above proposed vanity case, since the slider element is provided through the front end of the receptacle member, the slider element comes close to the palm of the hand when the vanity case is placed on a user's hand in a usual manner, so that the pushing operation of the slider element for opening the cover member has been incovenient.
Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to improve the above drawbacks and, thereby, to provide a vanity case including a cover member which can be opened very easily by placing the vanity case on a palm of the hand of a user.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a vanity case in which a slider element for opening the cover member is snugly provided in the cover member without spoiling the external appearance thereof.
A further object of the present invention is to provide a vanity case in which a structure for opening the cover member is very simple in construction and assembly and reliable in operation.